HOUSTON – (Sept. 17, 2010) - The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) announced the 10 Rising Venture and five Most Promising Energy & Clean Technology companies at the 8th Annual Energy & Clean Technology Venture Forum in Houston this week. Energy & Clean Technology companies showcased their new offerings at the largest venture capital conference in the Southwest with 500 attendees, including investors, venture capitalists, industry representatives, business leaders, service providers, and entrepreneurs.

The one-day event culminated in an announcement of the 10 Rising Venture Energy & Clean Technology Companies chosen from 40 presenters and judged by the Rice Alliance Energy & Clean Technology Advisory Board, based on the companies’ business plan or elevator pitch presentations. The elevator pitch simulates meeting an investor on an elevator and having only 90 seconds to convince them to consider investing in your company.

In addition, five other new energy and clean technology companies were pre-selected to present their 10-minute business plan presentation at the forum, and as one of the chosen five, were also named a Most Promising Energy & Clean Technology Company.

Rice Alliance managing director Brad Burke, announced the winners of the Most Promising Energy & Clean Technology Company awards at the event. “Every year the quality of companies improves. Many of the companies at this year’s event have developed prototypes, obtained proven results and are on their second round of funding. This makes them more appealing to investors, who have also expressed appreciation for the quality of the companies.”

Most Promising Energy and Clean Technology Companies, based on their business plan presentations:Ideal Power Converters - Spicewood, TX - developing a new power converter topology which dramatically reduces weight, size and cost of power converters for solar, wind, AC motor control, and electric/hybrid vehicles. www.IdealPowerConverters.comEmissions Technology, Inc. – Houston - manufactures and sells the patented ETI's UltraBurn Combustion Catalyst Systems that injects a special liquid aerosol with metals often used in catalytic converters into the engine's intake air stream. The catalyst-enriched air is then introduced into the cylinders where it mixes with the fuel to create a cleaner, cooler, more complete burn. product that dramatically reduces fuel consumption and reduces pollution for off-road diesel engines. www.emissionstech.com

Eco Power Solutions (USA) Corp. - Quincy, MA - is developing a patented turnkey energy recovery and emission control technology which provides a greater than 96% reduction in emissions, along with a 10%-25% reduction in carbon dioxide. The technology is also capable of generating supplementary energy by recovering waste heat, thus providing a significant reduction in operating costs. www.ecopowersolutions.com

Advanced Hydro Inc - Austin, TX - is commercializing a bio-inspired coatings technology that reduces fouling of membranes used in water treatment including desalination, waste-water, produced-water, and industrial-water. www.advancedhydro.net

Rising Venture Companies, based on their elevator pitch presentations: Biogas & Electric - San Diego, CA – developing a patent protected NOx reduction technology, NOxRx, that has 1/3 the installation cost of other solutions. NOxRx also saves customers approximately $50K per year in operating costs. www.biogasandelectric.com

Energy Conservation Industries, LLC. – San Antonio, TX - is a scalable provider to vertical markets offering a proprietary method for energy conservation in electric induction motors. Applications are a customized after-market retro-fit and sold on a project or contract basis. Designed to reduce operating expenses. www.energyconservationindustries.com

Los Alamos Solar Energy LLC. – Pojoaque, NM - is developing a method to generate electricity both more cheaply and with less carbon dioxide emissions than burning natural gas. They use solar energy to reform natural gas into a higher energy fuel (syngas), and then burn the syngas in off-the-shelf turbines. www.LosAlamosSolarEnergy.com

Neohydro Corporation – Houston - is developing a small mobile unit providing a high current electro-oxidation process. The product of the treatment results in 99% reusable water and 1% non-toxic waste. Our proprietary and protected ―BrinecellTM design delivers positive treatment results coupled with low operating and maintenance costs compared to other electrolysis equipment. www.neohydro.com

Orbital Traction – Houston - is developing a continuously variable transmission that will improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of variable speed, rotating systems. Orbital Traction is developing products that improve the efficiency of front end auto-motive accessories, such as alternators and superchargers, providing auto manufacturers and OEMs a superior means of drastically improving vehicle fuel economy without sacrificing performance. www.orbitaltraction.com